HIST 101. Vintage HMH Vise Models, Chapter 1. "The Original HMH Model Standard Vise"

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1 HIST 101. Vintage HMH Vise Models, Chapter 1 "The Original HMH Model Standard Vise" I once saw a copy of an ad in Fly Fisherman Magazine in which Bill Hunter, of New Boston, NH, was advertising his new 'HMH Model Standard Vise'. That issue was from the fall of And this was the vise: This vise was in production from 1975 until, likely, the early 1980's. What you see here is, to the best of my knowledge, what one would have to call an 'original' HMH vise. This was the only vise model that Bill marketed until about 1977 when the first Limited Edition Premium Vise models were marketed and sold. But that is a different chapter that we will get to soon enough. Suffice it to say, the Limited Edition Premium vise was quite different from this, and any other subsequent variations of the HMH Standard vise.

2 So what are the features that we use to identify an 'original' HMH vise? They are: 1) a fixed head angle chassis, cast of stainless steel and affixed permanently to the top of the stand rod -- the chassis was polished to a sheen, not plated; 2) Stainless steel adjusting knob with no set screw, and similarly, the brass locking ring also had no set screw (which, in later models, was used to lock the preferred rotational tension in place so it wouldn't move while tying many of the same hook); 3) black delrin washers (2 in front and 2 behind the chassis (white delving is used in later models) -- these can be seen in the image below; 4) a collet set screw located just forward of the chassis (you can just barely make out the screw in the image below, on the underside of the collet tube) -- this set screw in these earliest HMH vises had a slotted head; subsequent models beginning in early 80's moved to hex head socket set screws; 5) a milled flat on the back side and at the bottom of the standrod; and, notably, 6) a deep-colored, case hardened cam lever cast with the following inscription:

3 Three jaw styles were available with this vise model. And here we get to the answer to what "HMH" stands for. If you look at the diagram on the instruction sheet that Bill shipped with each vise, you'll see that he referred to what we now call 'jaws' as 'heads'. It was the ability to quickly change head types, among other features, such as the precision machining and quality materials, that set the HMH Standard apart from all other vises of the day. So, HMH originally meant 'Hunter's Multiple Head'. And before you all draw and quarter me, let me quickly note that HMH ALSO stands for 'Hunter's Mad House'. But this meaning came some time after the introduction of the vise when a friend visited Bill's shop to assist in a bit of vise production. What with the chaos of polishing wheels, drill presses and other machines spinning and cranking and chugging away, people coming into and out of the shop, telephones ringing, and the cramped quarters, the visitor stopped for a moment and observed to another there that this seemed more like Hunter's Mad House than anything else. And the name stuck.

4 I don't know, in fact, whether or not all three jaws were offered with this vise at the time of sale, although we might infer from the text of the instructions that indeed that was the case. So, the Original HMH Standard vise described above morphed to this:

5 In the early 1980's either shortly before or immediately after the rights to build the HMH vise were acquired by the company called Angling Products, Inc, or API. What API did to the Standard and how it affects you owners of original HMH Standards will be explored in a later chapter. In the meantime, if you have an original HMH Standard vise, cherish it and know that you own an important piece of fly tying history - the first precisionmachined fly tying vise built of high-quality materials, and the vise that set a new Standard of excellence for fly tying vises.

6 HIST 101. HMH VINTAGE VISES, CHAPTER 2 THE 'API' YEARS - PART 1, THE STANDARD, and the 'HMH II' (This series of posts highlights the various HMH vises models since their entry into the marketplace in The intent here is to enable those with older HMH vises to be able to name the model and otherwise get an idea as to its relative age. This is especially useful in the event that you, as a vise owner, needs some repair, refurbishing, or you are interested in upgrades, new jaws, etc.) Bill Hunter named the first HMH vise the 'Model Standard'. This name stuck, but the conformation of the vise changed somewhat over time. HMH vises began being built by a company called "Angling Products, Inc", or API, in So, beginning in 1981, the Standard looked like this: The HMH Standard ca thru Vise head rotated to show set screw that engages drawbar. Shown with original, long style magnum jaw.

7 The API Standard had an adjustable head angle employing what we now call the 'two screw' chassis. And the cam lever was imprinted with 'API'. The Standard was typically shipped with a brass base. (I may have been in error in posting the image of the Original Model Standard vise in a black cast iron base. It is very possible that those original vises were shipped with a brass base.) Regardless, the "Standard" vise as built and shipped by API had the adjustable head angle chassis, a brass base, and two jaws, the original style Magnum (seen here) and the 'Midge'. The midge jaw (not pictured) was intermediate between the current Omni jaw and Micro jaw. By the way, a word about this particular brass base. This brass base belonged to Dick Talleur for many years. He sent it to me probably ten years ago explaining that he had more bases than he needed and he thought I might like to have this one. Indeed. In addition to the obvious importance of having been owned by Dick, this base is one of the very first HMH brass bases made. In 1981, API re-drew virtually every part for the Standard, including the brass and cast iron base molds. The dimensions on Dick's base above are a little different than the brass base marketed since By way of comparing and contrasting, look at this image taken from a 1994 catalog. This is how the 'Standard' looked from about 1981 up until the year 2000.

8 THE HMH II API introduced a second full size HMH vise model, which they called the "HMH II". The HMH II differed from the Standard model in two ways. First, the vise was shipped with the black cast iron pedestal base. More importantly, the vise employed a one-piece jaw instead of using the screw-in/screw-out interchangeable jaw/drawbar system that was the hallmark of the HMH vise (remember - 'Hunter's Multiple Head'?).

9 The HMH II was in production from the mid-1980's until the mid-1990's. If you own a black-base HMH Standard vise with 'API' on the cam lever, and you want to acquire a new set of jaws, you should determine if your vise has screw-in/screw-out jaws or whether it has these one-piece jaws. THE 'API' YEARS - PART 2, THE SPARTAN "MINI" VISE (This series of posts highlights the various HMH vises models since their entry into the marketplace in The intent here is to enable those with older HMH vises to be able to name the model and otherwise get an idea as to its relative age. This is especially useful in the event that you, as a vise owner, needs some repair, refurbishing, or you are interested in upgrades, new jaws, etc.)

10 In 1981, API (Angling Products Inc.) drew up the plans for a new version of the HMH. It was a scaled down model of the HMH Standard in every way, meaning that they scaled down each individual part of the Standard to create a vise that was essentially a 2/3 replica of the Standard. This vise they named the Spartan, or the "Mini Vise". Other than the obvious size difference, a key difference between that Spartan model, which was built from ca. 1981/1982 thru about the year 2000, and the early Standard vise models was the one-piece jaw on the Spartan vise. The Standard vise models have always had the interchangeable jaw system (except for the HMH II, right?). In addition to the one-piece jaw, the features of this vise that also are diagnostic include a 5/16" diameter standrod, and a down-sized cast iron base. The Spartan cast iron base, however had a flat surface the length of the base. The Standard cast iron base had a flat surface supporting the spindle, but the top surface then sloped all the way to the front of the base. Two jaw styles were available for the Spartan Mini vise, the Universal, and the Restricted Use jaw. The universal jaw, was bull-nosed and did an excellent job holding even the largest hooks. The Restricted Use jaw (not pictured) is easy to recognize because it looks a lot like the modern Micro Jaw with a long, needle-nose profile. So, before you call us up with questions about your "Spartan", first ask yourself: is the Standrod of my Spartan a 5/16" diameter rod? Is the jaw a onepiece jaw that I can only remove by removing the cam pin and the cam lever, then pulling the jaw from the collet? Does the collet (the main 'tube' of the vise) have two bands of knurling at the front end? If the answer to all these questions is yes, then you have the API Spartan Mini vise model. We'll need to know that to be able to help you out with your questions about your vise. Now, what are the key differences between the API Spartan Mini vise the modern (since 2000) HMH Spartan vise? Read on. In 2000, we re-designed the Spartan vise back 'up' to a more standard size. The primary objectives for doing so were to bring the standrod up to the industry standard of 3/8" diameter so accessories would fit on the Spartan; to enable the Spartan vise to benefit from the interchangeable jaw system;, and to enable the Spartan vise to benefit from the better, re-designed chassis. What this meant, though, was that virtually none of the parts from the API model Spartan could be used on the new HMH model Spartan.

11 API Spartan on the left. and.. HMH Spartan on the right. API Spartan has smaller diameter standrod; cast iron base; double knurl bands on collet; and one piece jaw (see below). Modern Spartan has 3/8" diameter standrod; heavier and larger-foot-print plate steel base; no knurling on collet; interchangeable jaw system. The image above shows the guts of the cam lever / jaw assembly on the API Spartan vise (top) and the HMH Spartan (bottom). HMH assembly is longer overall. And HMH jaw and drawbar are 5/16" diameter whereas the API Spartan jaw shank is 1/4" diameter. So, that's about it. But having said all this, I will note here that it is not impossible to build a Spartan Mini Vise (although any of these built today would be C-Clamp versions only). Many of the original Spartan Mini vises are still in operation today. I mentioned in an earlier post that Sylvester Nemes, in particular, tied on one of the little Spartan Mini vises. It is a sweet little tool that ties the little stuff and the big stuff with ease.